Bringing Out Bohemian

Shout out to m. marie boutique for the dress I bought last year and still love! 

Well here it is....my version of bohemian.

Another week is flying by. Ever since the hubs started his new job, it has felt a lot like Groundhog Day around here, but we are making it. We have decided to stay put for a while, so unfortunately for him he will have to continue the commute. The days go by so quickly, and my work and the kids activities have me running crazy....but we have much to be thankful for. He has a job, and what a blessing that is. God is good......and the list continues:

1000 Gifts
181. Reading with coffee under covers
182. God's way of breaking through to us
183. Learning from others
184. When your mom stops by and does your dishes while you are at work
185. Clean sheets
186. Walking into a clean house
187. French toast with cinnamon sugar
188. Saturday morning patio chats
189. A nap on the weekend
190. Sunday morning sunrise
191. A gift card in the mail
192. An invite to lunch with a sweet friend
193. Swimming pools and cannonballs
194. Comments on my blog
195. Friends that pick up where we left off

"Earthy"

Freeride836 stoke rope bracelet,  my purchase bought one square foot of  the Tanzanian Orphanage.

With Earth Day in mind, I pulled some of the "earthiest" items from my closet. My copper necklace was a gift, handmade and colored naturally by rainwater. My wooden ring was my 12X12 Project purchase last month from Mata Traders. I am also wearing my purchase for this month, a stoke rope bracelet in support of Freeride836. A local father, his sons, and some professionals are kiteboarding 50 miles from Miami to the Florida Keys as soon as they have a good wind window. The money they raise will build an orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. The bracelet is made out of stoke rope that you will find on a kiteboard, and the metal plate lists the longitude and latitude of the orphanage. The bracelets are $20.00 each and 100% of your purchase goes to the orphanage. They can be purchased in Lakeland, FL at Mayzie's boutique, or let me know and I will find a way to get one to you! They just happen to be a client of mine as well! 

To close out the day, we walked the neighborhood to pick up any trash in a bag that my daughter made at school. I love that she insisted upon completing this task, and I so admire her heart! What did you do to celebrate Earth Day? 

Happy Friday!

I hope you all are just as excited about the weekend as I am! Happy Friday! XO

Dreams Do Come True!

This.....is the face of pure excitement!

Have you ever had an opportunity to witness someone's wildest dream come true? Last week I did. I still feel completely overwhelmed that I had the opportunity to be with my daughter as she met Taylor Swift, whom she absolutely adores.

It was totally a God thing, I won the tickets the Friday before by listening to 97 Country. I knew this year we wouldn't be able to afford tickets, and I explained that to her, and told her that we would make it to another concert one day. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to not only win the 2 tickets, but 2 meet and greet passes as well! I waited until we got near the Amway Center to tell her. She was blown away!!!!

Watching her smile from ear to ear all night was priceless. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was beautiful to see her recognize this as a gift from God too, and not loose sight of just how special this night was. Taylor was so super sweet, and absolutely stunning in person.

I am so thankful that I will have this memory to share with my little girl, and you know what? Dreams do come true!!

The Disguise

I wore my favorite color to help disguise my tired eyes. Did it work? I am trying to channel cheer, when I really just want to go to bed. My husband's new commute is already wearing on me and it has only been 2 days. Can you say wimp? Although I appreciate them....his goodbye kisses at 4:45am wake me just enough to prevent going back to sleep. I didn't realize how good I had it when he was home in the mornings to help me with breakfast and delivering children to school.  I am sure we will adjust to our new schedule soon, until then, wish me luck! 

Big Gifts

I have always heard people say when God gives, He gives BIG. I am a believer of that now more than ever. I've been through periods in my life when I thought only bad news was coming my way. I think I may have noticed the small blessings, but I wasn't truly aware of them because I was suffering so much pain.

After only two weeks, my husband was offered a job, and he started today. He didn't even call his new employer, who happens to be his largest customer. Only God. They called him, they believe in him. I am so proud of him and really excited, although he has a lot to learn so there will be very long days. He will also be commuting about an hour or so, which may promote a relocation in our near future. We will see how it goes, and continue to pray.

We had a great weekend, placing 2nd in our categories at a local triathlon. Our trophies read 3rd place because there was a mix up on the timing. And to top it off I received another HUGE blessing last Friday that I will be able to announce later this week. It is a surprise for my daughter, so I have to keep it a surprise for you too! God gives big. My cup overflows.

Thankful

I believe this 100%. During this time in our lives when we can't see the future, my eyes have been opened further to all of the things I have to be thankful for. The struggles in our marriage, my shopping fast and budget cuts, and my husband's current unemployment all have changed my perspective.

Yesterday was rough. My oldest had his wisdom teeth removed and it did not go very well. After feeling rushed out of the recovery room, he got very sick. I pulled into Smoothie King, which my friend owns. Luckily another friend of mine was walking out of the door, and I frantically called to him for help. They handed us towels, supplies, and even a smoothie to get something on his stomach. I couldn't be more thankful for that, those helping hands. As I mentioned in a previous post, we don't have my husband's company car any longer...so I was driving my son's car at the time. Do you think a teenage boy keeps napkins or anything in his car? Of coarse not. So we got cleaned up and went on our way.

Arriving home I had a mess to clean up in the car, and a very sick boy on my hands. A friend sent me a text and told me she was bringing dinner. I cried. I felt so loved, and so comforted just by that gesture alone. Jesus was showing himself to me through my friends yesterday, and I was overwhelmed.

Even with all of the crazy, scary, not so fun things happening in my life right now, I felt at peace. I go back to some of my posts complaining about letting things go, not shopping, blah, blah.....and I finally realize why I am on this journey. God is shaping me for something better. He wants me to know love like I have never known, and to trust him like I never have before. I could not feel more blessed.

1000 Gifts Continued:
174. The smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen
175. Helping hands
176. Hot meals from sweet friends
177. Days spent at home
178. Caring for sick children
179. Indescribable peace
180. Love amplified

The New Easter Dress

Dress: c/o www.eshakti.com

Dress, c/o www.eShakti.com

I received this beautiful dress as a gift from eShakti a few weeks back. I have been hoarding it for Easter, as I knew shopping for a new dress was not an option this year. There is just something about a new dress on Easter, I can remember dress hunting as a child with my mom before the big day. Frilly socks, new white shoes, and pretty hair bows. Oh how I still love to dress up! eShakit really has some beautiful options for spring, and you can even customize the sizing for a perfect fit.

In other news, my husband already has a job offer on the table, but we are taking our time to pray and make sure this is what God wants for us. It will be a bit of a drive, a lot of work, and tons of learning at first....but the opportunity is excellent so we are super excited about that. He has another interview this week, so things are looking promising in the midst of this storm. Personally, I will just be glad when we have another car. These one car wonder logistics are for the BIRDS! But, that aside....God is proving to be faithful yet again, and for that we are so very thankful.

I hope you all had a VERY happy Easter!

The 1000 Gifts List Continues:
164. Ice cream and toppings
165. Playing games with friends
166. Cheese Fries
167. Hand me down Easter dresses
168. Little girls in new church shoes
169. Bridges that take us to beaches
170. Sand filled sub sandwiches
171. Party crashing sea gulls
172. Celebrating Easter with family
173. My new Easter dress